On the occasion of 8 March, International Women's Day, KCK Executive Council Member Mustafa Karasu, underlined the importance of the struggle for women's liberation.

Karasu also assessed the upcoming muncipial elections in Turkey.

March 8, International Women’s Day, which has great significance in the Kurdish freedom movement, is just around the corner. On this occasion, can you tell us about the importance of the struggle for women’s liberation in the movement? What does that mean for men too? And what is your position on the discussions regarding co-presidency that are arising with the upcoming  local elections?

I congratulate all the women of the world on the occasion of March 8, International Women’s Day. I salute those who work for the women’s liberation struggle. I would also like to commemorate those who were martyred for this cause with respect and gratitude. March 8 is no longer just International Women’s Day, it is not just a day of women’s solidarity. It is not just a day of struggle. March 8 is a day for women to change the world, to liberate the world. Today, in a world where capitalist modernity, the system of male domination hangs over society like a nightmare, women have emerged on the stage of history as the power that will eliminate this nightmare. March 8th, the struggle of women. Women’s desire for freedom has now become a day of struggle, a process of struggle that not only lifts the oppression on women, but also liberates all of humanity, liberates men as well. It has such importance. In this respect, on March 8, this consciousness will be heightened even more and this struggle will develop even more.

We will see the power of women more this 8 March. Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] has already said that the 21st century will be the century of women’s freedom and this has already become clear. This determination of Rêber Apo has been realized. Definitely, the 21st century will be the century of women’s freedom and on March 8, women will take to the squares in Kurdistan, in the Middle East, and everywhere in the world and show that women will lead us to the real attainment of freedom and the real attainment of democracy. We believe in this. March 8 and May 1, these two days, will change the future of humanity. When we say that a new world is possible, women show this very clearly. The stance of women show us that a new world is possible. Once again I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all women on March 8th.

Women have been resisting throughout history. There is so much oppression, and the reaction and struggles against this have taken various forms. We can state that the history of women’s struggle against the male-dominated system has not yet been fully written, it is not fully known. Because the male-dominated system has always written and evaluated the world and history according to itself. According to them, women have no name, women have done nothing in history, that is, they have no existence. Yes, women are under domination and oppression, it is a male-dominated world, but women also have a struggle. Especially in the last centuries, women have had put forward great struggle. They have taken a stand against the male-dominated system. It has mostly been a struggle for equality against oppression. There has been a struggle to repel and regress the oppression in the male-dominated system and to make women equal in the legal and economic spheres.

But of course, in the current stage, especially with the women’s liberation ideology put forward by Rêber Apo, this has entered a new phase. In the women’s liberation struggle, it is now necessary to evaluate the period before and after 1998, when Rêber Apo put forward the ideology of women’s liberation. Before, women had a struggle, a reaction, an objection against oppression – as I mentioned before, there was a struggle for equality in economic, cultural and various fields – but this lacked an ideological, theoretical basis. It was emerging more as a resistance force against oppression and persecution. But it must be seen that this struggle reached a new stage with the ideology of freedom by Rêber Apo. Because a struggle can only succeed if it has an ideological direction, a theoretical direction and a inclusive program.

Rêber Apo gave this ideology of liberation, this paradigm, this program, this theory into the hands of those struggling for women’s liberation. He built it up from historical foundations. He took it out of being just a resistance movement. He turned it into a pioneering force that will change the whole world and change society. In this respect, Rêber Apo’s contribution to the women’s liberation struggle is very great. We can claim the following; the person who has made the greatest contribution to the women’s liberation struggle is Rêber Apo. This must be recognized. What did he say? He said that the liberation of women is more important than the national liberation struggle. He emphasized this in order to underline its importance. Of course, he did not belittle the class struggle or the struggle of oppressed nations, but he made such an evaluation in order to make understandable the importance of the women’s liberation struggle and its character which strengthens the entire revolution.

The global women’s movement gained momentum when Rêber Apo put forward the women’s liberation ideology and initiated the formation of the women-only party, ‘Party of Women’s Freedom Kurdistan’ (PAJK), struggling with an own ideological and theoretical leadership. When the women’s movements around the world gained an ideological and theoretical basis, it gained momentum and accelerated. Indeed, since 1998, the women’s liberation struggle in the world has been growing exponentially. Rêber Apo’s statement that the twenty-first century will be the century of women’s liberation has already been proven today. Of course, the Kurdish women’s liberation struggle has a great share in this.

Rêber Apo based the women’s liberation struggle on a historical basis, he based it on the Neolithic society. Neolithic culture is engraved in the geography of Kurdistan. In this geography, women had a historical power and leadership. In other words, the foundations and genes that has the potential to democratize and liberate society exist in the soil and history of Kurdistan. The leadership has modernized the features of the Neolithic society and brought them to a historical basis. No one can pose a serious threat to this anymore.

Absolutely no force can stand in the way of the ideology of women’s liberation. It is based on ideological theoretical foundations and has exhausted and destroyed the foundations of male domination. Just as the system of male domination, the state system, created Sumerian priests in the Ziggurats9 and brought it to the present day, now the women’s liberation ideology, in reverse, is rotting and destroying this system of male domination. It has eliminated the historical justifications of the male-dominant system; the system of male domination no longer has legitimacy. It has no historical basis. Its rottenness, injustice and baselessness were revealed with the ideology of women’s liberation. The male-system can only sustain itself through games, force, war and oppression, and this will not last forever.

The level that the women’s liberation struggle has reached through Rêber Apo and the PAJK is obvious. Without seeing this reality, we cannot raise the women’s liberation struggle even higher. The reality of Rêber Apo that contributed to the women’s liberation struggle must be recognized. The line of women’s liberation ideology put forward by Rêber Apo must be learned and understood. If this ideological theoretical basis is understood, the women’s liberation struggle will be victorious. If a movement has a correct ideological theoretical basis, if it has a program, no one can stand in its way. Indeed, the women’s liberation ideology, the women’s liberation struggle is today the liberation struggle of humanity, the freedom struggle of humanity.

I would like to take this opportunity to underline the following: There is a system of domination over women, there is slavery. But the slavery over men is even worse. There is male slavery on men too. There is the slavery of the dominating mentality. Men are bound and polluted by the mentality of domination. Yes, women are enslaved under the male dominated mentality, but this mentality enslaves men even more. Male domination also contaminates men. In this respect, the women’s liberation struggle will liberate men from slavery the most. The liberation of men from slavery, their liberation from that pollution, their liberation from that immorality and lack of conscience will also be achieved through women’s liberation.

Our female comrades always stress out this aspect. This problem is not only a women’s problem. It is the problem of men, it is the problem of the liberation of men too. More precisely, it is a problem of the liberation of the whole society. It needs to be understood like this. Rêber Apo has put this forward. He revealed what women’s liberation means for society and what it means for men. What did he say as soon as he put forward this theory, and even before he put it forward? He talked about “killing the man” and theorized it as ‘killing masculinity’. Rêber Apo made it very clear that killing masculinity is a theory of freedom, a theory of democracy, and that killing masculinity is a way to achieve freedom and democracy. These are realities that should be learned by all women, men and the whole society. Of course, especially socialists should also learn about Rêber Apo’s women’s liberation ideology. Because one cannot be a real socialist without having the right attitude on the women’s liberation line. I would like to emphasize this in particular.

Developing the ideology of women’s liberation means to lay explosives under the system of male domination. An important dimension of the struggle for women’s liberation is the political struggle. In this regard Rêber Apo attached great importance to the system of co-presidency. He saw it as an important aspect of the women’s liberation struggle, and revealed that the liberation struggle should be carried out and continued in this direction. Because the co-presidency system is not just two people sharing authority. To understand it this way is to distort the meaning of co-presidency. The co-presidency system means to create a new social system; creating a new social understanding. It means to create the essence of a new life. It needs to be understood and practiced as such. Otherwise it cannot be seen as the sharing of authority. Because the struggle for freedom, the struggle for democracy is not a struggle about shared-authority. The struggle for freedom and democracy is the struggle to break and destroy powers. It is an approach of sharing, joint administration and joint work.

When establishing the co-presidency system, the friends who become co-presidents, especially male friends, should be very proud of this. They should feel honored, since they are becoming an important part of the freedom struggle that will change the world. They are becoming an important responsible force. They need to be worthy of this. They need to represent it well, and need to have strong belief in freedom and democracy.

Of course the Turkish state attacks this system. Because it is a male-dominated system. If the male-dominated system weakens, genocidal colonialism also weakens. In this respect, the genocidal, colonialist Turkish state has been very hostile to the women’s liberation struggle and the co-presidency. The reason is that the women’s liberation struggle, the co-presidency system, is a struggle that rots, melts and weakens that genocidal system. The state attacks intensely because it has realized this. This is also the reason why so many female politicians, so many women who struggle for women’s freedom are imprisoned and tortured.

The Turkish state, as well as the capitalist modernist forces will of course continue their attacks against the women’s freedom struggle, they will also attack the system of co-presidency. The male-dominant mentality is even trying to use women to weaken and trivialize the co-presidency system. The other day, a so-called leftist or social democrat woman tried to belittle this model which develops society based on the free will of both genders, by saying “what is this co-presidency anyway”. In other words, the equal representation of the genders and the awareness and embracing of this is made to seem unimportant by the male-dominated mentality.

The ideology of women’s liberation will destroy male-dominant ideologies. Where the women’s liberation line develops, no reactionary ideology can remain, nor can the supremacy-based ideology. The women’s liberation ideology eliminates supremacy.

Of course, there have been discussions to a certain extent about the system of co-presidency. There was a discussion about who will be the official president in the municipal elections. We heard that and I can say, that this is is a very shameful thing. It means that whoever is official will be dominant and supreme, so the dominant mentality is searched to be prevailed. This is what it means.

Co-presidency means a common mentality, democratic understanding, democratic governance. It means overthrowing all kinds of superiority, all kinds of ignorance and supreme mentality. If clarification is formally necessary, then all women should be the official representatives. In some places they made it a woman, in some they made it a man. It doesn’t really matter, because that is not what the discussion should be about. Co-presidency is not a discussion of such. Co-presidency means joint administration, joint work, joint will. One will be official, one will be superior, the other will be something else; it’s not like that.

Let us also emphasize this: All patriots who are loyal to Rêber Apo need to understand the ideology of women’s liberation correctly, they need to understand the system of co-presidency correctly. Perhaps the first condition of loyalty to Rêber Apo means, to understand the ideology of women’s liberation correctly, to approach women correctly. In this context, it means to approach the system of co-presidency correctly. One cannot say “I defend Rêber Apo” or “I am loyal to Rêber Apo” without approaching women’s liberation correctly. All Kurdish patriots, everyone, should know this. The women’s liberation ideology of Rêber Apo is not an ordinary idea. It will change the whole society, it will change the world, it will free men from domination too, it will free men from slavery too.

Men are under the slavery of the male-dominant mentality, they are tied to its chains. This is polluting them. Sure, there is female slavery at the forefront, but this male-dominant mentality is poisoning men the most. It deprives them of morality and conscience. This is how we need to understand it. Co-presidency is very important. Rêber Apo put this forward. Our movement is already doing this everywhere. We now have joint administrations everywhere. In all our meetings, the majority is formed of female comrades. The influence, reputation and role of the women’s movement, PAJK, in our movement, the PKK, is very big. This is commonly known.

Now, negative discussions regarding the co-presidency system are really not right for Kurds. Aren’t the sacrifices of our women comrades obvious? Today, they play an important role in the war both as commanders and as fighters. They put their lives on the stake. Now this reality will gradually be seen more. Everyone will organize their lives according to this reality. All Kurdish patriots will learn Rêber Apo’s ideology of women’s freedom. Because that is what loyalty means.

Right now all humanity respects Rêber Apo. One essential reason why he has become so influential is that it has put forward the ideology of women’s liberation. Of course he is against supremacy, against the state, against exploitation and oppression. He is an ecologist and therefore against industrialism. Rêber Apo is seen all over the world as a leadership that will bring the liberation of humanity, the liberation of laborers and women. The line of women’s liberation is also a line that affects societies and all democrats. This is a fact that needs to be understood. All Kurds should be honored by this. All Kurds should realize that with the struggle for the freedom of women, they are the most forward-thinking society in the world today, the most democratic and libertarian society.

We have already touched on the municipal elections, but to come back to that explicitly; How important do you consider these elections to be? Should Kurdish society engage in it, or should the calls made by some to no-vote be followed?

For the Kurdish society, the municipal elections are more important than the general elections. Kurds have a problem of freedom, have a problem of self-administration. They have the problem of protecting their own values and achievements. First and foremost, they have the problem of being accepted as themselves. All these are reasons why the local governments are very, very important for Kurds. Without a doubt, it is important to form a group in the parliament and to do politics there too. These things are already happening, but local governments and municipalities are even more important for Kurds. They directly concern their own society, their own geography, their own people. It is a place where they can do politics in touch with their own society. That is why, local governments are of such great significance.

For this, the AKP government is playing great games. They have transported soldiers and policemen to Kurdish regions in attempt to gain majority votes in these areas, putting pressure on the people. Maybe duplicated votes will be used as a technique of fraud too. What comes to light in advance, shows how important this election is and it shows, that the genocidal colonialists also see this importance. In this respect, what we will say is that of course the election process in Kurdistan should be taken very serious. It is said that the trustees will be kicked out. They should really fulfill this claim. The trustees should really be removed. Kurds should put their will forward. Not accepting the trustees appointed to the rightful positions of Kurdish politicians means rejecting the genocidal colonialist system.

Knowing this, the Kurdish people should of course go to the local elections. They should remove the trustees with the goal to gain new municipalities and we believe they will do so. This is the right thing to do. Work is being done in this direction. The state and the AKP-MHP government are already trying to manipulate in Kurdistan and they search to seize some municipalities and put pressure on the society through them, or more precisely, what they are trying to do, is to leave no space for Kurds to do politics for themselves. For the Kurds, the most important political space is the municipalities.

AKP is trying to play games again, they are talking about a solution process. As if there could ever be a new solution process. The AKP is trying to deceive the public by saying that there was a solution process, but that it was abolished, that the PKK abolished it. They are trying to deceive, they are shameless. They are shameless to say that; who rejected the Dolmabahçe agreement10? The AKP government and the Turkish state. Rêber Apo was trying to drag them into the solution process. After April 5, who imposed heavy isolation on Rêber Apo? They ignored the Dolmabahçe agreement. After that, everything was already over. They are speaking as if the Kurds ignored the Dolmabahçe agreement. As if members of the ‘People’s Democratic Party’ (HDP) ignored it. As if Rêber Apo ignored it. Rêber Apo showed the most reasonable approach and he achieved that agreement. But even that was rejected. Because the mentality of the Turkish state is colonialist, genocidal.

First of all, everyone should know that the solution to the Kurdish question is through struggle. It is through democratization. It is not like one person will come and solve it. There is no such thing. There is no solution without struggle. Even Rêber Apo was skeptical at the time. He asked if AKP and Erdoğan could do this. He always expressed his skepticism. Because Erdoğan is not of such a mentality to accept solution, he is not of that caliber. In this respect, the Kurdish people should not listen to anything from the left or the right. Some go as far as to say that the HDP is negotiating with the AKP.

The Kurdish question is not a problem that can be solved overnight. It is not a problem that can be solved by a few people getting together and meeting. It is a problem to be solved through struggle. A big change in mentality is needed. The genocidal mentality needs to change. There is still Kurdish denial. Such denial has not been lifted. Those are just words spoken to cover up the denial. They turn a blind eye to some things on purpose, to cover up the denial, to cover up the genocide. They are softening some language and cultural issues. They may have established television channels like TRT but the sole purpose of this is only to cover-up. These should not be believed. The Kurdish people must show their will. They must show their will in the election. This is not just an election for a mayor. The Kurdish people must say, “This is my will. I want freedom, I want my identity, I want my culture, I want to govern myself”.

Demonstrating one’s own will is the most valuable thing. A municipality is much more important than a MP. The Kurdish cause is much more important than a mayor or an MP. They must put forward their political will, their struggle, their attitude and insist on it. We believe that they will show this in this election.